Feed regulator control for labeling machines



Feb. 10, 1948. :J, SOARES 2,435,803

FEED REGULATOR CONTROL FOR LABELING MACHINES Filed July 1, 1946 1727/60 for fifforney Patented Feb. 10, 1948 so STATES PATENT owl'ce f FEED -REGUIZATOR GONTROL FDR IEABELING MACHINES:

J 01in Shares, San Leandrmfiallf.

Application-July 1 1946, S'eri'alNo. 68U683 5Claims. L.

This: invention. relatess to: are l'mprovedi means for adjusting the feed' on labels-an; adjustin means which. is ccnvenientlgtacoessible to the op eratorrof the machine.

I Conventional: labeling. machines for: labeling cans'andi' similar containersiincludesmeans: which raises a stack of. labels; in: steps:;. the: labels bei-ng; raised suflicientlyin each step: to provide labels for a number of cans which follow each other in a; continuous stream throughetherlabe'ling machine." This: step= teed-i of; the: labels must be accurately controlled tocompensate for differences in. the. thickness of labels; which. vary mainly: because: ofi: differences in thickness of f the enamel or. printing: medium onthe. labels:

In a machinecfi this timethe: operatorhas all controls: except this feed regulator:- at the. front of the machine; the feediregulator being at the back of. the machine: and: near? the lower end! so that it cannot be reached from the:front,.therefore it: the labels are feeding-either too? much or too: littlestooearly' or too latesthe containers-will eitherpass through without 321313611 01- the labels may be improperly a plied; on maybe: tom or otherwise damaged;

With the: present. typesv an adjustment, under such conditions the: operator must leavemheifront at. the machine;. abandoning temporary control thereof; crawtthnough:to therbackiofthermachine, and by using; awrench on pliers adiustthefeed; of. course: necessitating the closing-j dewm of: the machine andmaking: all other helpridle: until the machine: is! again adjusted: to operate properly. one or. the most. imponta-nt controls; and yet the least accessible; The lack. ot accessibility is the cause of. many shutdowns; patticularlywhen the; machinieisreloaded with. additional labels though they may be-thesame batchzof 'labelst. In onesparti'cula-irease each shutdown for adjustment oi. the feed regulator makes eighteen men idle for a. period oi. tentothirtymlnutes; and this results im agreat'lossinproductione and increase in cost of labeling the containers.

My invention,. an simple attachment which can be installed qui'clily and easily. malies the feed regulator control accessiblefto'm the front-of the machine so that thelabel Feed is under constant control along' with: all other controls of the-labeliiig' line;

It eliminates ali shut-"downs? due to improper feeding because any inaccuracy or improperfeeding. oi the labels can be instantly overcome by; adiustment from the operators customary position at the front of the machine.

The objects and: advantages; of the. invention are as follows:

Firsh. to: provide means accessible. from. the front: of a'labelingmachineifor adjusting the label feed control, .at will:

Second; to provide-an attachment for a label? ing machine: which attachment makes l the label feed: control instantly accessible. fromtheconventional operators position in front of .themachine.

Third, to provide; means: asoutlined. which can be: attached to a labellng machinewithout change in the 'machine.structure.-.

Fourth;, to provide an attachment as outlined which is simple in. construction and operation, easy to install; instantly accessible, and economi caltomanufacture;

In describing? the. invention. reference will be made'to the-accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is'a rear elevationiof; the relatedelements of a container-labeling machine with. the invention applied thereto:

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of-itheinvention.

Only such part-soft the labeling machine as are directly involved are shown-in the drawings, the labeling machine including, a controltrip lever lll-which-is controlled by-theflow ofcans ll. Normally the top-of: the stack'oflabels llprojects upwardly above thetriplever lllso that thebodyof the can rides on the-toplabel, eachcam picking up its label following; application of the adhesive. As the labels are. picked up: the stacki gradually reduces inheightzto where eventually the rim. l3 of a cantouchesthetripilever, followed by actual depression of the leven'byfollowing cans, which through the connecting rod: "forces thecross.- head [5 down, with the spring 16 drawing. down on the control pln H The pin H, is fixed in the rocker armor pawl level: l8.which-ter-minates= at one end he a roller- Ht andihasa pawl 20- mounted at. the: other end. 7

Acam 2t is. continuously driven, So long. as the stack. oflabels is high enough to keep. the rims of the cansfrom depressing theilever to; the lever through the crosssheadl l5, andv block 27c which is slidablev in the. slot.-23--keeps1l'ever la. in a. raised position sothatit is: not acted upon by the cam 21, but withdepnession-ot the lever Ill. by a. can, the spring. I-B) draws the. lever: t8. dew-n1 so. that, it cooperates with thecamwith the cam advancing the ratchet 24 with each revolution, and this ratchet cooperateswith elevating mechanism (not shown-l to raise thevstack of labels. As soon as the staclchas-raised tea-proper level the. cans. will no longer strike. the lever Ill and advanceot the feed will be stopped.

If the distance between the pivot 25 and the pin I1 is not exactly correct the labels will not feed properly, and this is apt to happen at any time because of variations in the thickness of the enamel coating on the labels.

With the conventional adjustment, the arm 25 is coaxial and integral with the screw 26 and the screws 26 and 21 are respectively right and left hand threaded and'provided with check nuts 28. A turnbuckle 29 is provided for adjusting the span between the pivot 25 and pin l1, and this adjustment is on the back of the machine and can only be reached by the operator by abandoning his controls on the front of the machine and" climbing under the conveyor, loosening the check.

nuts and adjusting the turnbuckle and retightening the nuts when the adjustment is made, and

this adjustment may be necessary at any unexpected moment and possibly a number of times throughout each shift.

My invention consists inproviding an onset member with the arm extending upwardly from one end of'abase BB, the arm being offset relative to the axis of the bolt 26, and providing a stem 3! to extend above the top of the machine, and this stem terminates at its upper end in an adjusting knob 32, and at its lower end has the screw 26 integral, and with a thrust collar 33 formed at the juncture of the-stem and screw with the screw passing through a bore 34 in the other end of the base 30, and a friction member such as a dished spring collar 35 between the base and thrust collar 33, and a pair of check nuts 38 for drawing and locking the base against axial movement while permitting rotative adjustment; the spring cap maintaining adjustment throughout a considerable period of operation.

Thus the adjustment is under instant control of the operator from his normal station in front of the machine, and shutdowns are entirely eliminated where due to improper feeding of the labels. If the'operatorrequires a quick advance of labels, he need only tap the knob 32' to depress the lever l8 so that the cam'2i will ad- Vance the ratchet, and he can by slowly turning the knob in one direction or the other as occasion may require, maintain proper adjustment with correct feeding of the labels and without ever leaving the front of the machine.

The friction between the'nuts 3B, washer 35 and collar 33 will maintain any'adjustment while permitting instant adjustment at any time. It eliminates idle periods, unlabeled cans, and damaged labels, and a continuous flow of correctly and uniformly labeled containers is assured.

I claim:

1. Label feed regulator adjusting means for a labeling machine having aturnbuckle, a trip lever operable by the elements to be labeled and a cam actuated pawl lever and a connection from said pawl lever to said turnbuckle comprising an adjusting member I threadedly cooperative with said turnbuckleand having'an extension to the a handgrip for adjustment of the length of the operat ve connection at will, and a second connection from said adjusting member to said'trip lever and having a passage with said adjusting member 'ated pawl and a connecting rod connecting said trol adjusting means for adjusting the length of said connecting rod comprising an adjusting element threadedly intermediately connecting said connecting rod and extending to the top of j the machine and accessible from the front of connection with said trip lever.

top of the labeling machine and terminating in trip lever and cam actuated pawl; remote con- 4. A remote control attachment for adjustment of the feed regulator of a labeling machine having a trip lever and a cam actuated feed pawl and an operative connection therebetween with intervening turnbuckle comprising; a shaft tel"- minating at one end in a threaded portion for adjustment in said turnbuckle, and in turn terminating in a shoulder and having a knob at the other end and extending above the top at the rear of the machine; an off-set connection having a bore at one end for said shaft and a connection at the other end for the portion of the operative connection to the trip lever; a friction member between said shoulder and the off-set connection to retain relative adjustment of the shaft and the off-set connection, and locknuts for retaining the shaft and off-set con,- nection against relative axial movement and for adjusting the resistance of saidfriction means. 5. A remote control attachment for the label feed regulator of a labeling machine having a trip lever actuable by elements to be labeled and a cam actuable pawl lever and relatively. inaccessibly located at the back of the machine, comprising; a turnbuckle, a connection from said cam actuable pawl lever to said turnbuckle, an offset member having a bore formed through one end and an upwardly extending arm at the other end and a connection from said upwardly extending arm to said trip lever, an adjusting stem threadedly adjustably ooperating with said turnbuckle and frictionally rotatable in said here and retained against axial movement in said bore and extending upwardly therefrom to a plane above the top of the machine and terminating in a knob for adjustment of the length of the combination of connections from the trip lever to the cam actuable pawl lever, from the front of the machine at will, whereby said feed regulator is under immediate and constant control from the front of the machine.

. JOHN SOARES.

' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of'record in-the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date I Be. 21,707 1 Davidson Feb. 4, 1941 1,3 0,724 Lindsay June 7, 1921 2,336,839 Blackstone Dec. 14, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Italy Jan. 13, 1934 

